Avon Grove superintendent plans to retire

PENN – Negotiations to extend the contract of Avon Grove Superintendent Augustus Massaro ended after one offer by the board and a counter offer by Massaro. Lacking a meeting of the minds, Massaro announced he would be retiring at the end of his present contract on Oct. 31, 2013.

During the Thursday school board meeting, Massaro announced his decision. A motion to accept his retirement with thanks for his years of service was made by board president Bonnie Wolff, but tabled until the next meeting because board members have not yet received anything in writing.

Massaro explained that the board had approached him last October with an offer for a three-year extension of this contract. He countered with an offer, but no further negotiations came from the board. “Over a three year period of time (my offer) had significant concessions of over $700,000,” Massaro said, later explaining that the board’s offer had cuts to the retirement benefits and other benefits that are in his present contract.

Advertisement

The 56-year-old Massaro has 35 years in education, with most of them in the Avon Grove School District. He started as a teacher, and served as assistant principal at the Fred S. Engle Middle School from 1985-89. He left the area from 1989-91 to serve as a principal in Sarasota, Fla., but returned to the district in 1991 as a principal and moved up to assistant superintendent in 1997. He has been the district superintendent since 2002.

When he was first offered the job as superintendent, Massaro was hesitant, turning the position down twice before he accepted. “It was based on where the district was at that time. It’s been challenging,” he said.

Massaro is proud of where the district is today and how it has gotten to this point. He can boast of Avon Grove’s excellence in education and academic achievement while going for multiple years without tax increases.

Avon Grove does not have the multiple levels of administrators that some other districts have. “I think it’s good. It gets the administrators more knowledgeable about operations – you’re an active participant,” Massaro said. “”I’m always out and about. I’m always in the schools and moving around.”

He holds great affection for the district. “Avon Grove means the world to me,” he said, praising the students, administration, faculty and staff. “When you’re negotiating you can’t have your emotions take over your intellect.”

Massaro has no suggestions for the board, as they will soon begin the work of finding a replacement for him. “They need to actively find someone beginning November 1 to lead this board in the direction they have in mind,” he said.

For him, the future is still open. “I’m going to relax and enjoy myself,” Massaro said, noting that he and his wife have traveled and like other areas. “I don’t know what I’m going to do”